FILIPINA boxing bet Nesthy Petecio looks to advance to the top four of the Women’s Featherweight division as she takes on Colombian Yeni Arias in the quarterfinals Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The 29-year-old Petecio has so far been impressive in her campaign in the Olympics. She opened her campaign with a one-sided 5-0 decision win over Marcelat Sakobi Matshu in the Round of 32. She followed it up with a huge 3-2 decision win over No. 1 seed Yu-Ting Lin of Chinese Taipei.
Petecio earned her spot in the Olympics after a gold medal finish at the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Russia.
Arias got an outright spot in the Round of 16 after getting a bye in the Round of 32. She beat Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova 3-2 on points.
The 30-year-old Arias is a bronze medalist in the 2019 Pan Asian Games. She finished 17th in the World Championships.
The winner of the Petecio vs. Arias bout faces the victor of the Caroline Veyre and No. 5 seed Irma Testa fight in the semifinals.
The other three Filipino bets in boxing are still alive in their campaign in the Olympics.
Eumir Marcial makes his Olympic debut against Algerian Younes Nemouchi in the Round of 16 of the Men’s Middleweight division on July 29. Irish Magno is also fighting on that same day against former foe Jutamas Jitpong in the Round of 16 of the Women’s Flyweight division.
Carlo Paalam, on the other hand, takes on Algerian Mohamed Flissi on July 31 in the Round of 16 of the Men’s Flyweight division.
Meanwhile, Cebuana judoka Kiyomi Watanabe is out of contention for a medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after losing to Spain’s Cristina Cabana Perez on July 27 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
Perez beat Watanabe with an Ippon Sumi-otoshi in the 0:38 second mark in the Elimination Round of 32 Women’s -63KG match in Judo.
The 24-year-old Watanabe fell short in her first match of her Olympic debut.
Watanabe earned a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics via continental quota.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Watanabe finished ninth in the World Championships and 17th in the World Masters in 2019. She finished fifth in her campaign in the Asia-Oceania Championships. (EKA)